I remain as ever looking for the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Wm. Miller.

LIFE OF WILLIAM MILLER.

SKETCHES
OF
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
AND
PUBLIC LABORS
OF
WILLIAM MILLER,

GATHERED FROM HIS MEMOIR BY THE LATE SYLVESTER
BLISS, AND FROM OTHER SOURCES.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

STEAM PRESS
OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION,
BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
1875.

INTRODUCTION.

Before us is a plain volume, the title page of which reads, “Memoir of William Miller generally known as a Lecturer on the Prophecies and the Second Coming of Christ, by Sylvester Bliss, author of Analysis of Sacred Chronology, a brief Commentary on the Apocalypse,” etc.

Mr. Bliss was for more than twenty years the local and able conductor of the Advent Herald, which sustained the leading doctrines promulgated by Mr. Miller, published at Boston, Mass. The publisher of this volume, Elder Joshua V. Himes, Mr. Miller’s intimate fellow-laborer and friend, in his preface says:—

“The name of William Miller, of Low Hampton, N. Y., is too well known to require an extended introduction; but while well known, few men have been more diversely regarded than he. Those who have only heard his name associated with all that is hateful in fanaticism, have necessarily formed opinions respecting him anything but complimentary to his intelligence and sanity; but those who knew him better, esteemed him as a man of more than ordinary mental power, a cool, sagacious, and honest reasoner, a humble and devout Christian, a kind and affectionate friend, a man of great moral and social worth.

“However his public labors may be regarded by a majority of the community, it will be seen, by a perusal of his life, that these were by no means unproductive of great good. The revivals of religion which attended his labors are testified to by those who participated in them; and hundreds of souls will ever refer to him as a means, under God, of their awakening and conversion.”

“As the public learn to discriminate between the actual position of Mr. Miller and that which prejudice has conceived that he occupied, his conservativeness, and his disapprobation of every fanatical practice will be admitted, and a much more just estimate will be had of him.”

We hold that the great movement upon the second advent question, which commenced with the writings and public lectures of William Miller, has been, in its leading features, in fulfillment of prophecy. Consistent with this view, we also hold that in the providence of God Mr. Miller was raised up to do a specific work; therefore to us the history of the important events in his Christian life and public labors possess peculiar interest.

It is true that Mr. Miller and his associates and numerous friends were disappointed in the definite time of the second coming of Christ. And as might be expected from the nature of the case, those who have not sufficient interest to investigate the subject, especially those who are opposed to the doctrine of the soon coming of the Redeemer, conclude that the second advent movement has been a fanatical mistake.

But we take a more favorable view of this matter. We hold that Mr. Miller was correct in three of the four fundamental points of Adventism, while on the fourth he was mistaken. But even this one mistake, viewed in the light of Scripture and reason, does not in the least affect his general position.

1. Mr. Miller was correct in his views of the pre-millennial second appearing of Christ. No doctrine is more plainly stated and more fully sustained by the sacred Scriptures than the personal appearing and reign of Jesus Christ. And whatever may be said of the views and labors of Mr. Miller, this fact will not be denied, that very many ministers of the different denominations changed their views upon the millennium, renouncing the popular view of the conversion of the world, and the spiritual coming and reign of Jesus Christ.

2. Mr. Miller was correct in his application of the prophetic symbols of Daniel and John. In this he is sustained by Protestant expositors generally.

3. He was also correct in his exposition and application of the prophetic periods. The dates fixed upon have stood the test of the most rigid criticism. And those Adventists who have changed to other dates have done so simply because of the passing by of the first periods of expectation.

4. But Mr. Miller was mistaken in the event to occur at the close of the prophetic periods, hence his disappointment. In the case of the 2300 days of Dan. 8, which period was the main pillar in his calculations, his error was in supposing the earth to be the sanctuary of that prophecy, and that it was to be cleansed by the fires of the last day.

The primary signification of the word sanctuary is “a sacred place.” Neither the earth, nor any portion of it, has been such a place since the fall of man, and the reign of Satan and of death began. The apostle’s commentary upon the typical system, in his epistle to the Hebrews, points to two sacred places as the sanctuary of Jehovah; first, the typical tabernacle of the Jews; and, second, the greater and more perfect tabernacle of which Christ is now minister in Heaven.[1]

But other great men have made as grave mistakes relative to the event to occur at the close of the great periods of Daniel as Mr. Miller. These, however, are soon forgotten, while that of Mr. Miller is ever fresh in the public mind. The learned late Geo. Bush, Prof. of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in the New York City University, in a letter addressed to Mr. Miller, and published in the Advent Herald for March, 1844, made some very important admissions relative to his calculations of the prophetic times. Mr. Bush says:—

“Neither is it to be objected, as I conceive, to yourself or your friends, that you have devoted much time and attention to the study of the chronology of prophecy, and have labored much to determine the commencing and closing dates of its great periods. If these periods are actually given by the Holy Ghost in the prophetic books, it was doubtless with the design that they should be studied, and probably, in the end, fully understood; and no man is to be charged with presumptuous folly who reverently makes the attempt to do this. On this point, I have myself no charges to bring against you. Nay, I am even ready to go so far as to say that I do not conceive your errors on the subject of chronology to be at all of a serious nature, or, in fact, to be very wide of the truth. In taking a day as the prophetical term for a year, I believe you are sustained by the soundest exegesis, as well as fortified by the high names of Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, Kirby, Scott, Keith, and a host of others, who have long since come to substantially your conclusions on this head. They all agree that the leading periods mentioned by Daniel and John do actually expire about this age of the world, and it would be a strange logic that would convict you of heresy for holding in effect the same views which stand forth so prominent in the notices of these eminent divines. Your error, as I apprehend, lies in another direction than your chronology.”

Here Prof. Bush speaks frankly and truthfully, and his words of candor and wisdom sustain the Adventists in that feature of their faith most objectionable to their opponents. But what was the event for which Mr. Bush looked to mark the termination of the 2300 days? Let the following extract from the same letter to Mr. Miller answer:—

“You have entirely mistaken the nature of the events which are to occur when those periods have expired. This is the head and front of your expository offending. You have assumed that the close of the 2300 days of Daniel, for instance, is also the close of the period of human probation, that it is the epoch of the visible and personal second coming of Christ—of the resurrection of the righteous dead, and of the dissolution of the present mundane system. The great event before the world is not its physical conflagration, but its moral regeneration. Although there is doubtless a sense in which Christ may be said to come in connection with the passing away of the fourth empire and of the Ottoman power, and his kingdom to be illustriously established, yet that will be found to be a spiritual coming in the power of his gospel, in the ample outpouring of his Spirit, and the glorious administration of his providence.”

Evidently, Mr. Bush looked for the conversion of the world as the event to mark the termination of the 2300 days. Both Mr. Miller and Mr. Bush were right on the time question, and both were mistaken in the event to occur at the close of the great periods. Mr. Miller held that the world would be regenerated by fire, and Mr. Bush, by the gospel, at the end of the 2300 days. The conversion-of-the-world theory of Mr. Bush has had the terrible test of the last thirty-two years of apostasy, spiritual darkness, and crime. This period has been noted by departures from the faith of the gospel, and apostasies from the Christian religion. Infidelity in various forms, especially in the name of spiritualism, has spread over the Christian world with fearful rapidity, while the dark record of crime has been blackening since Prof. Bush addressed his letter to Wm. Miller. If this be the commencement of the temporal millennium, may the Lord save us from the balance. Both these great men mistook the event to terminate the 2300 days. And why should Mr. Miller be condemned for his mistake, and Mr. Bush be excused for his unscriptural conclusion? In the name of reason and justice we plead that, while the Christian world excuses Prof. Bush for his mistake, professedly pious men and women will not too severely censure Mr. Miller for his.

If it be objected that the second advent movement, as introduced in our country by Mr. Miller, could not have been in harmony with Providence, in fulfillment of prophecy, because those who engaged in it were disappointed, then we suggest that, if God’s people never have been disappointed on the very point of their expectation when prophecy was being fulfilled in their experience and history, then it may be that prophecy has not been fulfilled in the advent movement. But if one instance can be shown in Sacred History where prophecy was fulfilled by those who were entirely incorrect on the vital point of their confident expectation, then, after all, prophecy may have been fulfilled in the great second advent movement of 1840-4. This matter should be fully tested.

The prophet of God had uttered these words about five hundred years before their fulfillment: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass.” Zech. 9:9. In fulfillment of this prophecy, while Christ was riding into Jerusalem in the very humble manner expressed by the prophet, the chosen twelve, and the shouting multitude, cried, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Matt. 21:9. The people, and even the disciples, did not as yet understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom; and they verily thought that Jesus would on that occasion claim his right to the throne of David, and then, and there, be crowned king of Israel.

And when Jesus was requested to rebuke his disciples, he replied, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Prophecy had gone forth, and must be fulfilled, if the Spirit of God from necessity should call hosannas from the very stones.

But the people did not understand the nature of prophetic fulfillment of their time; and their disappointment was complete. In a few days they witnessed the dying agonies of the Son of God upon the cross, and as Christ died, their hopes in him died also. Nevertheless, prophecy was fulfilled in the ardent hopes and triumphant hosannas of those who were so soon overwhelmed with bitterest disappointment.

In gathering material for this work, we have copied very largely from Mr. Bliss, especially from the correspondence and writings of Mr. Miller which are incorporated into his Memoir. And we have thought best to introduce matter from the pen of Mr. Miller, not found in his Memoir, as his writings, probably, better represent the advent movement and cause than those of any other. And as the best means by which the people may learn the real sentiments, the candor, and the true piety of this humble servant of Jesus Christ, we would let his writings testify.

The introduction into this small volume of so large an amount of matter from Mr. Miller makes it necessary to omit a large portion of his Memoir that is devoted to his earlier life, as we hasten to his deeply interesting Christian experience. But in necessarily omitting portions, we hope not to appear to do Mr. Miller and his biographer injustice, while we content ourself with little more than space for this introduction, and foot notes.

In the preparation of this work, we have been greatly edified and refreshed in spirit, as we have necessarily read very much from the able, candid, and godly pen of Mr. Miller; and we heartily wish the same blessing upon the candid reader.

James White.

Battle Creek, January, 1875.

WILLIAM MILLER.

CHAPTER I.

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE—MARRIAGE—DEISTICAL SENTIMENTS—MILITARY LIFE.

William Miller was born at Pittsfield, Mass., February 15, 1782. He was the eldest of sixteen children, five of whom were sons, and eleven were daughters. His grandfather, William Miller, moved from West Springfield, Mass., about 1747, and settled on the place in Pittsfield, now familiarly known as the Miller farm. His father, William Miller, was born December 15, 1757, and remained on the farm taken up by his father until he moved to Low Hampton, N. Y., in 1786. At the time of this removal the subject of this sketch was four years old. His biographer says:—

“In his early childhood, marks of more than ordinary intellectual strength and activity were manifested. A few years made these marks more and more noticeable to all who fell into his society. But where were the powers of the inner man to find the nutriment to satisfy their cravings, and the field for their exercise? Besides the natural elements of education, the objects, the scenes, and the changes of the natural world, which have ever furnished to all truly great minds their noblest aliment, the inspiring historical recollections associated with well-known localities of the neighboring country, and the society of domestic life, there was nothing within William’s reach but the Bible, the psalter, and prayer-book, till he had resided at Low Hampton several years.”

“In a newly settled country, the public means of education must necessarily be very limited. This was the case, at the time here referred to, in a much greater degree than it usually is with the new settlements of the present day. The school-house was not erected in season to afford the children of Low Hampton but three months’ schooling in winter, during William’s school-boy days. His mother taught him to read, so that he soon mastered the few books belonging to the family; and this prepared him to enter the ‘senior class’ when the district school opened. But if the terms were short, the winter nights were long. Pine knots could be made to supply the want of candles, lamps, and gas. And the spacious fireplace in the log house was ample enough as a substitute for the school-house and lecture-room. But even the enjoyment of these literary advantages subjected the zealous student to a somewhat severe discipline.”

“As soon as William’s age and strength rendered him able to assist his father about the farm, it was feared that his reading by night might interfere with his efficiency in the work of the day. His father insisted, therefore, that he should retire to bed when he retired himself. But the boy could not be kept in bed. When the other members of the family were all asleep, William would leave his bed, then find his way to the pitch-wood, go to the fireplace, cast himself down flat on the hearth, with his book before him, thrust his pitch-wood into the embers till it blazed well, and there spend the hours of midnight in reading. If the blaze grew dim, he would hold the stick in the embers till the heat fried the pitch out of the wood, which renewed the blaze. And when he had read as long as he dared to, or finished his book, he would find his way back to bed again, with as little noise as possible.”

“He possessed a strong physical constitution, an active and naturally well-developed intellect, and an irreproachable moral character. He had appropriated to his use and amusement the small stock of literature afforded by the family, while a child. He had enjoyed the limited advantages of the district school but a few years before it was generally admitted that his attainments exceeded those of the teachers usually employed. He had drunk in the inspiration of the natural world around him, and of the most exciting events in his country’s history. His imagination had been quickened, and his heart warmed, by the adventures and gallantries of fiction, and his intellect enriched by history. And some of his earliest efforts with the pen, as well as the testimony of his associates, show that his mind and heart were ennobled by the lessons, if not by the spirit and power of religion.

“What, now, would have been the effect of what is called a regular course of education? Would it have perverted him, as it has thousands? or would it have made him instrumental of greater good in the cause of God? Would it have performed its appropriate work, that of disciplining, enlarging, and furnishing the mind, leaving unimpaired by the process its natural energies, its sense of self-dependence as to man, and its sense of dependence and accountability as to God? or would it have placed him in the crowded ranks of those who are content to share in the honor of repeating the twaddle, true or false, which passes for truth in the school or sect which has ‘made them what they are’?

“We think it would have been difficult to pervert him; but where so many who have been regarded as highly promising have been marred by the operation, he would have been in great danger. He might have become externally a better subject for the artist; but we doubt if he would have been a better subject to be used as an instrument of Providence. There are those who survive the regular course uninjured. There are those who are benefited by it so far as to be raised to a level with people of ordinary capacity, which they never could attain without special aid. And there is a third class, who are a stereotype representation of what the course makes them; if they raise a fellow-man out of the mire, they never get him nearer to Heaven than the school where they were educated.

“Whatever might have been the result of any established course of education, in the case of William Miller, such a course was beyond his reach; he was deprived of the benefit, he has escaped the perversion. Let us be satisfied. But still we must record the fact that it would have been extremely gratifying if something of the kind could have been placed at his command. He desired it. He longed for it with an intensity of feeling that approached to agony. He pondered the question over and over, whether it was possible to accomplish what appeared to him to be not only a desirable gratification and honor, but almost essential to his existence.

“It should be noticed, however, that his circumstances became somewhat relieved as he advanced in years. The log house had given place to a comfortable frame house; and, in this, William had a room he was permitted to call his own. He had means to provide himself with a new book, occasionally, and with candles to read at night, so that he could enjoy his chosen luxury, during his leisure hours, in comparative comfort.

“It was on one of these times of leisure that an incident occurred which marked a new era in his history, though it did not introduce fully such an era as he desired. There was a medical gentleman in the vicinity of his residence, by the name of Smith, who possessed an ample fortune, and was known to be very liberal. In the plans which had passed through the mind of William, to secure the means of maturing his education, he had thought of Dr. Smith. At any rate it could do no harm to apply to him. The plan was carried so far as to write a letter, setting forth to that gentleman his intense desires, his want of means to gratify them, his hopes and his prospects, if successful.

“The letter was nearly ready to be sent to its destination, when William’s father entered the room, which we may properly call his son’s study. Perhaps it had not occurred to the son to consult his father in the matter; and to have it come to his notice in so unexpected a manner somewhat disturbed him for the moment. But there was the letter in his father’s presence. He took it, and read it. It affected him deeply. For the first time, he seemed to feel his worldly condition to be uncomfortable, on his son’s account. He wanted to be rich then, for the gratification of his son, more than for any other human being.

“There were the irrepressible yearnings of his first-born, which he had treated in their childish development as an annoyance, now spread out in manly but impassioned pleadings to a comparative stranger to afford him help! There were plans and hopes for the future, marked by an exhibition of judgment and honor that could not fail of commanding attention! All that was tender in that father’s heart, all that was generous in the soldier, and all that could make him ambitious of a worthy successor, was moved by that letter. The tears fell, and words of sympathy were spoken; but the plan was impossible.

“The letter of William’s was never sent. It had the effect, however, of changing his father’s course toward him, so that he was rather encouraged than hindered in his favorite pursuits. By this time, the natural genius and attainments of young William Miller had distinguished him among his associates. To the young folks, he became a sort of scribbler-general. If any one wanted ‘verses made,’ a letter to send, some ornamental and symbolic design to be interpreted by ‘the tender passion,’ or anything which required extra taste and fancy in the use of the pen, it was pretty sure to be planned, if not executed, by him. Some of these first-fruits of his genius are still in existence; and, although it requires no critic to discover that he had never received lessons of any of the ‘great masters,’ still these productions would compare very favorably with similar efforts by those whose advantages have been far superior to his.

“The facts connected with the early life of Mr. Miller, and the incidents in his personal history, now spread before the readers of this work, will enable them to see, in the boy, a type of the future man. The most embarrassing circumstances of his condition could not master his perseverance. And if he could not accomplish all he desired to, the success which attended his efforts, in spite of great discouragements, was truly surprising. The position he had won opened to him a fairer prospect, though still surrounded with serious dangers.”

William Miller was happily married in 1803, and settled in Poultney, Vt. His biographer continues:—

“One of the first objects of his interest, after he had become settled, was the village library. His constant use of its volumes brought him into the society of a superior class of men. His wife took a deep interest in his improvement and promotion; and made it her pleasure and business to relieve him as much as possible from all the family cares which might call him away from his books. She felt very sure that it would not be lost time on his part, or lost labor on her own part. Still, the time he could devote to books, on the best possible arrangement, was not so much as he desired; for he had been trained to the farming business, and he made that his employment, for some years, in Poultney.

“One effort of genius, though trifling in itself, which attracted toward him the public attention of the village and its vicinity, was a poetic effusion, the inspiration of his patriotic ardor. Preparations were going on, at the time, for the public celebration of the anniversary of our national independence; and the inspiration of that memorable day seized Mr. Miller while he was hoeing corn in the field. He had written poetry before; and so, after the labor of the field was done, he put his thoughts into a written form, to be adapted to the familiar old tune, called ‘Delight.’

“The appointed marshal, or manager, of the services of the day, was Esquire Ashley, who was then a neighbor of Mr. Miller, and afterward became an intimate friend. But the poet of the day, as he became, was too reserved to offer his tribute, though there is reason to believe it would have been thankfully accepted; for the business of the manager hardly afforded him time to write poetry for the occasion, if he had the ability, or even to select it. Mr. Miller was willing to have his piece seen and used if it was thought to be suitable, but he could not announce himself as its author. So he took the manuscript and walked as usual to Esquire Ashley’s house. He seated himself leisurely below the chamber window, where that gentleman was making his preparations for the great celebration. Then, taking an opportunity to place it near where Mrs. Ashley was at work, he shortly after withdrew. As soon as Mrs. Ashley discovered the paper, she took it to her husband, supposing it was one of his papers which had fallen from the window. He took it and read the hymn; it struck him as being just what was wanted; but he knew nothing of its origin. It was carried to several others, who were thought of as its author, but no author or owner of it could be found. ‘Perhaps an angel from Heaven had sent it.’ So they talked at any rate.

“However, the hymn was copied with the pen, and the sheets multiplied to supply all who wished for one. The day came, and the hymn was sung with the greatest enthusiasm to the favorite old tune, ‘Delight’! But among those who distributed the copies, there was a worthy Baptist minister, by the name of Kendrick, who had taken a warm interest in Mr. Miller. His suspicions had pointed him to the author of the piece; and when Mr. Miller came, with others, to get a copy, his appearance and manner confirmed Elder Kendrick’s suspicions. Further inquiry brought forth a confession of authorship. To use the phrase of the old folks, ‘it was a great feather in his cap.’ He had touched the right chord in the right way. The pious and patriotic emotions of the aged were revived; the ardent responses of the young to these patriotic emotions found expression in the new hymn; and nothing more was needed to make its author the popular favorite.

“It is not known that an entire copy of the hymn is now in existence. A sister of its author has repeated to us a few of the stanzas, which we give, more for the purpose of exhibiting his religious and patriotic sentiments than from an expectation that our readers will be affected as were those who first heard it. Its style and meter were strictly in accordance with the standard contained in the hymn book used on Sundays, doubtless the only standard the writer of it was familiar with; and the effect arose from the natural force and simplicity of the versified thoughts, and the perfect ease of the musical execution. But to the fragments of the hymn:—

...

“‘Our Independence dear,

Bought with the price of blood,

Let us receive with care,

And trust our Maker, God.

For he’s the tower

To which we fly;

His grace is nigh

In every hour!

“‘Nor shall Columbia’s sons

Forget the price it cost,

As long as water runs,

Or leaves are nipped by frost.

Freedom is thine;

Let millions rise,

Defend the prize

Through rolling time!

...

“‘There was a Washington,

A man of noble fame,

Who led Columbia’s sons

To battle on the plain;

With skill they fought;

The British host,

With all their boast,

Soon came to nought!

...

“‘Let traitors hide their heads,

And party quarrels cease;

Our foes are struck with dread,

When we declare for peace.

Firm let us be,

And rally round

The glorious sound

Of liberty!’

“The reader will see that the piece was designed for home consumption. It was exactly suited to the occasion; and was marked throughout, in spirit, style, and thought, with the elements of his education. And this production, with others in prose and poetry, made him at once a notable in the community; secured to him a wide circle of friends, and opened the way for his promotion to office and honor. The old men were all ready to give him a lift, almost without distinction of ‘party.’ The young folks made his house a place of common resort, to which they gathered to spend their leisure hours; while himself and wife became the central unit which drew them together and kept all in motion.”

“In his political sentiments, he was decidedly democratic. But he had intelligence enough to see that the practical patriotism of men did not depend so much on the party name they took as on their common sense and integrity. He knew that there were bad men enough in either party to ruin the country, if they had the power to do it; and good men enough in the same parties to promote the public prosperity to the best of their ability. His position, therefore, was taken in view of the tendency of different political principles and public measures, in their ultimate bearing on the established institutions of the country. He enjoyed, in a remarkable degree, the confidence of both the political parties of the day.”

“In the case of most men of the world, with the avenues to honor, wealth, and domestic happiness wide open before them, it is not often that a public station so commanding would be voluntarily left for the hardships, privations, and dangers, of the camp. What strong impulses could have turned him off in that direction? Already the business of his office had placed him in easy circumstances. Such was the amount of his business that he kept two horses, one of which he drove, while the other was kept up to rest, week by week, alternately. He enjoyed the respect and unbounded confidence of the public; and he only needed to make himself still as worthy of public favor as he had been hitherto, and then with life and health, all that this world could afford was within his reach. His preference for the army, so far as we know, sprang from these two motives: First, he desired to participate in the glory which rested on the memory of those he held the most dear, in the history of his country and of his family. Second, he hoped to enjoy a more inviting exhibition of human nature in the scenes of military life than experience or books had afforded in civil life.

“His desire for something noble in character was greater than that for wealth or unsubstantial fame. He was satisfied with the trial of what was around him, and wished to try a new field. This is stated by himself in his published memoir: ‘In the meantime, I continued my studies, storing my mind with historical knowledge. The more I read, the more dreadfully corrupt did the character of man appear. I could discern no bright spot in the history of the past. Those conquerors of the world, and heroes of history, were apparently but demons in human form. All the sorrow, suffering, and misery in the world, seemed to be increased in proportion to the power they obtained over their fellows. I began to feel very distrustful of all men. In this state of mind, I entered the service of my country. I fondly cherished the idea that I should find one bright spot at least in the human character, as a star of hope—a love of country—Patriotism.’

“Happy, indeed, should we consider ourselves if there were no drawback to this apparent prosperity to be noted. Rarely is it the case that the honor of God and the honor of man are coincident. If Mr. Miller was not puffed up by the latter, he had lost much of his regard for the former. In his worldly advancement, there was a serious and dangerous departure from the Christian sentiments which were instilled into his mind during his early life. Still there was no defect in his character which the most rigid worldly standard of external morality could detect. He was perfectly upright and honorable in all his dealings. He was generous, almost to a fault, with his friends, compassionate and liberal to the poor, and he held in the highest contempt every act that could tarnish a man’s personal and private honor. He was not profane, even to the extent that too many are who pass for gentlemen. He was not intemperate, although he was very much exposed to this ruinous habit from the example of those into whose company his business called him—a habit which had broken down some of his predecessors in office, by rendering them incapable of attending to their business. He escaped from it without the least stain.

“It could be shown, from sentiments embodied in some of his essays, in addresses delivered before societies existing at the time, and in his poetic effusions, that his moral and religious views were of a type that would pass with the world as philosophical, pure, and sublime. But the men with whom he associated from the time of his removal to Poultney, and to whom he was considerably indebted for his worldly favors, were deeply affected with skeptical principles and deistical theories. They were not immoral men; but, as a class, were good citizens, and generally of serious deportment, humane and benevolent. However, they rejected the Bible as the standard of religious truth, and endeavored to make its rejection plausible by such aid as could be obtained from the writings of Voltaire, Hume, Volney, Paine, Ethan Allen, and others. Mr. Miller studied these works closely, and at length avowed himself a deist. As he has stated the period of his deistical life to have been twelve years, that period must have begun in 1804; for he embraced or returned to the Christian faith in 1816. It may fairly be doubted, however, notwithstanding his known thoroughness and consistency, whether Mr. Miller ever was fully settled in that form of deism which reduces man to a level with the brutes, as to the supposed duration of their existence. And the question is worthy of a little inquiry, To what extent was he a deist?

“Robert Hall, with his usual comprehensiveness and truth, has remarked that ‘infidelity is the offspring of corrupt Christianity.’ It is much more successful in the discovery of supposed arguments against the existence of the Deity of the Scriptures, in the perversion of that which is divine, than in its institution and appointed use. Voltaire chose the ruins of human nature, in their most perverted and blighted condition, and Volney chose the ‘ruins’ of human habitations, for the theater on which to display their mighty but evil genius. And they conjured forth the same evil spirit which had instigated or caused the ruin, in each case, to utter a false testimony, in reference both to ruined man and his ruined habitations. These men became the oracles of that falsehood to the world! But it was never the intention of God, that man, or the world fitted up for his habitation, should be in this ruined condition; it is the work of rebellion and sin!—of sin against the greatest displays of love and goodness that were possible, and against the purest and most reasonable law that could be given; of rebellion that was marked by contempt of the universal Sovereign, and of authority enforced by the lightest test of submission. And God has spoken to us, to inform us that he has made provision for the restoration of all men, and that it is his purpose to restore all who become interested in that provision, with the world now in ruins, to a condition which no history but the Bible has made known.

“Paine could rail and belie the supernaturalism of the Bible, like an incarnate demon, and then indorse all the supernaturalism of the most stupid pagan mythology, in his patriotic and poetic productions, which he published to the world. And that mind must be strangely out of balance naturally, or wretchedly perverted, which could bow to the authority of Volney’s ‘specter,’ or Paine’s paganism,—the pure creations of fictions and superstition,—and then reject the Bible because it demands faith in that which is not familiar to the senses.

“It is generally true that those who become decided skeptics take that most hopeless position, because they have become so depraved or perverted that they feel the want of an infidel theory to afford them a license and quiet, in their chosen course. It was not so with Mr. Miller. In the days of his greatest devotion to deistical sentiments, he desired something better. He had his difficulties with the Bible under its current interpretations, and he tells us what these difficulties were. But a man like him could never be made to believe it consistent or safe to abandon the Bible, unless something more worthy of his trust were first put in its place. And such a condition must secure to that matchless book a certain and permanent supremacy. This was Mr. Miller’s safety.

“But if the poison which had infused its taint into the system did not appear as a loathsome blotch upon the surface, its victim was not only kept away from the sole remedy, but that remedy was treated by him with an afflicting and dangerous levity. This was now the painful feature of his case. Once it was not so. When he was a mere boy—‘between the years of seven and ten’—as he tells us, a sense of the plague of his heart and of his lost condition caused the deepest concern in reference to his future prospects. He spent much time in trying to invent some plan whereby he might find acceptance with God. He tried the common and most natural course, in such a state of mind, that of being ‘very good.’ ‘I will do nothing wrong, tell no lies, and obey my parents,’ he thought. But his mind was still unsettled and unhappy.

“Good works are very proper, but they can never be accepted as the price of pardon and redemption. He thought, too, as all do in the same state of feeling, that something might be effected by sacrifice. ‘I will give up the most cherished objects I possess.’ But this also failed. There is only ‘one offering’ that can avail. In that, every sinner must rest his hope and plea, or remain without peace with God. The experience of Mr. Miller’s childhood made him thoughtful and serious, if it did not result in the attainment of this inward sense of peace. Under his inward conflicts and apprehensions of worldly sorrow, when a young man (in 1803), he poured out his soul to ‘religion’ in this touching strain:—

“‘Come, blest religion, with thy angel’s face,

Dispel this gloom, and brighten all the place;

Drive this destructive passion from my breast;

Compose my sorrows, and restore my rest;

Show me the path that Christian heroes trod,

Wean me from earth, and raise my soul to God!’

“‘Two things,’ says D’Aubigne, ‘are essential to sound Christian experience. The first is a knowledge of our condition as sinners; the second is a knowledge of the grace of God, in its manifestations to the soul.’ Mr. Miller, like most if not all others, had learned the first in his early life; but he had evidently not then attained the second of these elements of a true religious life. And, by not attaining that important position in the process of deliverance from our fallen condition, he became wearied of a sense of his need, if he did not lose it entirely. In the chosen employment of his intellect, with a more ample supply of books at command; in the midst of an admiring and merry social circle; in receiving the honors of the world from the hand of his superiors, and in reaping an honorable portion of the treasures of the world, why should he desire any other source of enjoyment—and one altogether unknown, unappreciated and unpopular, in the circle where he moved? What use had he for that religion he had seen verified and felt the need of, in the less cultivated family circle at Low Hampton?

“If those who never become acquainted with the lessons of truth may be satisfied without the consolation of which its lessons speak, with those who are made familiar with these lessons, it is generally very different. They can seldom feel satisfied with themselves without making a hearty surrender of life, and all God has given them, to his service. As they know this is their reasonable service, anything short of this, they know, must be unreasonable. But how few take this narrow path! How many turn away to join the multitude! The talent, however, is in their hands. They must dispose of that, if they will not submit themselves to the disposal of its Giver. Some make it the reason for entertaining and venting a more malignant and blasphemous form of hatred against everything which bears the name of God. This quiets all fear of being reproached as religious, and it is the awful snare into which many are led by the fear of man. Another class of these unfaithful recipients of the talent of truth try to get along with a popular external expression of respect for its claims; and thus they escape the dreaded reproach.

“A third class, naturally too frank even to appear to venerate what they do not heartily respect, and too deeply impressed with the goodness of the Deity to become blasphemers, but still too fearful of man to encounter his frown, seek to save themselves from it by making the defects of the humble but unpopular representatives of truth a subject of merriment. This course was taken by Mr. Miller. This is the class to which he then belonged. He banished from his memory the impressions of his early life, and must silence all fear of reproach on account of them; so he gave to his skeptical associates an assurance that he had mastered his superstition, as they deemed it, by performing, for their sport, the devotions of the worship to which he had been accustomed, and especially by mimicking the devotional peculiarities of some of his own family relatives.

“Among these pious relatives there were two, in particular, whose presence or names were calculated to remind him of his repudiated obligations, and whose influence over him he labored to repel, by making them the theme of his mirth. One of these was his grandfather Phelps, pastor of the Baptist church at Orwell; the other was his uncle, Elihu Miller, who was settled as the pastor of the Baptist church at Low Hampton, in 1812. These were men of unpolished exterior, but of decided character, strong voice, and ardent devotion. Men whose features were so strongly marked would make fine subjects for striking portraits; and if all their traits could be brought out, there would be found a large bestowment of the treasure of heavenly wisdom and virtue in the earthen vessels. It was the excellence of the heavenly traits, and the roughness of the earthly, which made them so desirable and so ready subjects of caricature.

“These humble ambassadors of Christ, and other pious relatives, often visited Mr. Miller’s house at Poultney; and, although he received them with affection and respect, and entertained them in the most generous manner, he was in the habit of imitating, with the most ludicrous gravity, their words, tones of voice, gestures, fervency, and even the grief they might manifest for such as himself, to afford a kind of entertainment for his skeptical associates, which they seemed to enjoy with peculiar relish.

“Little did he then think that he was measuring to these faithful men what was to be measured to him again, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. And probably it was not known to him that these praying men had already expressed the hope—almost a prophecy—that their prayers would be answered, and that he would some day be engaged in perpetuating the work they were endeavoring to advance.

“There was more than one heart that was almost inconsolably afflicted by this conduct of Mr. Miller. His mother knew of it, and it was as the bitterness of death to her. Some of his pious sisters witnessed, with tears, his improprieties. And when his mother spoke of the affliction to her father Phelps, he would console her by saying, ‘Don’t afflict yourself too deeply about William. There is something for him to do yet in the cause of God!’

“Although Mr. Miller avowed himself a deist, and was recognized as such by deists, this offense against all propriety, in trifling with what his dearest relatives regarded as most sacred, this thoughtless trifling with the humble messengers of the gospel was the darkest feature in his character. To him it was the most natural course which the circumstances of his position could suggest, and, undoubtedly, appeared to be the least violation of former convictions and educational proprieties which would allow him to stand as he did, in the favor and confidence of his unbelieving associates. He had not then become acquainted with the Source of strength by which he might have been sustained before the enemies of the Christian faith; he was unprepared to take the Christian position, and he became what the influence around him naturally determined. To give the true state of the case, the darker shades must appear with the lighter. He took the position of an unbeliever. But that he was not a deist of a rank type will appear more fully from his own statements.

“We have thus stated Mr. Miller’s social and public position, his worldly prospects, and his religious state. The longsuffering of God was still to be exercised toward him. He was to become satisfied with the insufficiency of the world. Then the light which had become darkness was to be revived within him; the breath of life from God would disclose the all-sufficient portion, and he would go forth to build again the faith he had destroyed.

“Many were the prayers that ascended in his behalf; and some of those who were the most deeply interested for him would pass away before their prayers would be answered. But the great lessons of longsuffering, of faithfulness, and of the power to deliver out of the most artful snare of the adversary, would be the more magnified, on the part of God; the praying, who were yet alive, would hail the answer with greater joy, and the delivered one would be the better prepared to take others, in the same fearful condition, by the hand, and lead them to Him who came to seek and save the lost!”

William Miller received a captain’s commission and entered the army in 1812. His biographer gives more than thirty pages relative to his military life, in which those whose hearts are fired by reading of victories gained by the use of carnal weapons can see much to admire in him as a patriotic soldier. But as our principal object is to bring him before the public as an intelligent Bible Christian, a bold soldier of Jesus Christ, and an able and sound expositor of the word of life, we pass over his military career, giving only one incident, which will be of interest to the Christian reader.

“A few reflections on this period of Mr. Miller’s life and the mention of an incident or two of some interest, must close this chapter. Everybody is familiar with the fact that the army is a bad school of morality. Intemperance, licentiousness, gambling, fighting, stealing, profanity, and Sabbath-breaking, are the common vices of army life. It was the constant practice of these vices by those around him which sickened Mr. Miller of their society. And that he should escape entirely from the contamination would be too much to expect. However, it is both a matter of surprise, and highly creditable to him, that his moral integrity and habits were not affected to a hopeless extent. There were, however, some redeeming traits to the too generally dark moral picture of army life. There were a few men in the 30th regiment of infantry who were known as men of prayer and undoubted piety. And an incident in their history, which Mr. Miller has often spoken of with great interest, should be mentioned. One of these praying men, if memory has not failed in the case, was Sergeant Willey.

“His tent was occasionally used for the purpose of holding a prayer-meeting. On one of these occasions, when Mr. Miller was ‘the officer for the day,’ he saw a light in this tent, and, wishing to know what was going on, as his duty required, he drew near, and heard the voice of prayer. He said nothing at the time; but, the next day, on recollecting it, he thought it was a good opportunity to try the sergeant’s piety, and indulge his own relish for a joke, by calling Sergeant Willey to account for having his tent occupied by a gambling party the night before. When the sergeant appeared, Captain Miller affected great seriousness, and spoke in a tone bordering on severity, as follows: ‘You know, Sergeant Willey, that it is contrary to the army regulations to have any gambling in the tents at night. And I was very sorry to see your tent lit up for that purpose last night. We cannot have any gambling at such times. You must put a stop to it at once. I hope I shall not have to speak to you again about it!’

“The poor sergeant stood thunderstruck, for a moment, to hear such an imputation cast on him and his associates. And then, hardly daring to look up, he replied, with the most touching simplicity, and in a manner which showed that he was alike unwilling to suffer the scandal of entertaining gamblers, or to make a parade of his devotions, ‘We were not gambling, sir!’ Captain Miller was touched with his appearance. But, still affecting greater severity than at first, being determined to press him to a confession, he said to the sergeant, ‘Yes, you were gambling! And it won’t do! What else could you have your tent lighted up for, all the evening, if you were not gambling?’

“Sergeant Willey now felt himself under the necessity of being a little more explicit, and answered, in a manner deeply expressive of his grief and innocence, ‘We were praying, sir.’ Captain Miller, by this time, was almost in tears; and indicating, by a motion of his hand, that he was satisfied, and that the praying sergeant might withdraw, he continued alone for some time, sensibly affected by the courage manifested by these Christians in that ungodly camp, by the becoming deportment of their representative under such a serious scandal, and by the doubtful course he had taken in reference to them.”

“One fact must be mentioned, which will speak more than volumes in behalf of his commanding integrity, as it shows the place he occupied in the respect and confidence of the soldiers. After the war, two members of his company, who lived as neighbors in the extreme northern part of Vermont, had some business difficulties, which grew to be so serious that they could hardly live together as neighbors on speaking terms, to say the least. This was a great affliction to themselves, as brother soldiers, to their families, and to the whole neighborhood. These men had often thought of their former captain, though they were much older than he was, and wished the difficulties could be submitted to his examination and decision. But it was a long way to his residence, and the time and cost of the journey seemed too much to admit of such an arrangement. However, the matter became a source of so much trouble that the proposition was made by one, and gladly accepted by the other, to visit Captain Miller; to submit the case to him, by telling each his own story, and to abide by his decision. The long journey was performed by these old soldiers separately, as duelists go to the place of single combat. They arrived at Captain Miller’s nearly at the same time. Arrangements were made for a hearing. Each told his story. The decision was made known, after all the facts of the case had been duly considered. It was received in good faith by the parties. They took each other cordially by the hand, spent a little time with their captain, and returned to their homes in company, as friends and brothers.

“Paradoxical as it may appear, some of the most distinguished and honorable soldiers have been the most successful bloodless peace-makers, while, on the other hand, some of the most contemptible cowards, with peaceable pretensions always on their lips, have distinguished themselves by very little besides their successful contrivances to keep all engaged in war with whom they have had to do. Without claiming any special distinction for Mr. Miller on the score of what are styled brilliant achievements in the field of danger, the character of a great lover of peace belonged to him as a distinguishing personal trait. He delighted in peace, naturally; it is not known that he ever intentionally provoked a quarrel; and a considerable number of cases could be cited, in which he has been called to perform the office of a peace-maker, and in the duties of which he has been remarkably successful. But enough. More must be left unwritten than it would be practicable or necessary to write.

“The watchful Providence which guarded him in the hour of deadly peril; the longsuffering which spared him while neglecting the talents bestowed, or misusing them in rebellion against the Giver; and that wisdom and grace which overruled all the dangers experienced, and the derelictions practiced, as in many other persons of distinguished usefulness, demand our hearty adoration. The close of Mr. Miller’s military life was to be the commencement of a new era in his history. The circumstances which preceded that change, the means and instrumentalities employed in its accomplishment, and the practical results which immediately followed in the circle of his acquaintance, must be left to another chapter.”

The following, relative to Mr. Miller’s connection with the army, we take from his “Apology and Defense,” published in 1845:—

“In 1813, I received a captain’s commission in the U. S. service, and continued in the army until peace was declared. While there, many occurrences served to weaken my confidence in the correctness of deistical principles. I was led frequently to compare this country to that of the children of Israel, before whom God drove out the inhabitants of their land. It seemed to me that the Supreme Being must have watched over the interests of this country in an especial manner, and delivered us from the hands of our enemies.

“I was particularly impressed with this view when I was in the battle of Plattsburg, when with 1,500 regulars, and about 4,000 volunteers, we defeated the British, who were 15,000 strong; we being also successful at the same time in an engagement with the British fleet on the lake. At the commencement of the battle, we looked upon our own defeat as almost certain, and yet we were victorious. So surprising a result against such odds did seem to me like the work of a mightier power than man.”

CHAPTER II.

REMOVAL TO LOW HAMPTON—HIS CONVERSION—STUDY OF THE BIBLE—RULES OF INTERPRETATION, ETC.

“On the retirement of Mr. Miller from the army, he removed his family from Poultney, Vt., to Low Hampton, N. Y., to begin there the occupation of farming. His father had died there, in the year 1812, leaving the homestead encumbered with a mortgage. That was cancelled by Mr. Miller, who permitted his mother to live there with his brother Solomon, while he purchased for himself another farm, in the neighborhood, about half a mile to the west. This lay mostly above the general level of the valley of the Poultney river, and comprised about two hundred acres of land, with a surface somewhat uneven, and with soil similar to that usually found in sections geologically marked by black slate and limestone. Two miles to the east was the village of Fairhaven, Vt., near the Poultney river; and eight miles to the west, on the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, at the foot of bold, precipitous hills, was the village of Whitehall, N. Y.

“On this spot, in 1815, Mr. Miller erected a convenient farm-house, similar to those built throughout the interior of New England at that epoch. It was of wood, two stories high, with an ell projecting in the rear. The front and ends were painted white, with green blinds, and the back side was red. It fronts to the north. A small yard, inclosed by a picket fence, and ornamented by lilacs, raspberry and rose-bushes, separates it from the public road leading to Fairhaven, which is one of the interesting objects in the foreground of the extended view to the east, as seen from the window of the ‘east room,’ so full of tender and holy recollections to all visitors.

“To the west of the house, a few rods distant, is a beautiful grove, where, in later times, he often prayed and wept. This spot was selected by the political party to which Mr. Miller belonged, for the place of a public celebration of the national independence, on its anniversary, July 4, 1816. Mr. Miller was selected as the marshal of the day; but, not fancying a party celebration, he used his influence so that all persons, irrespective of party, were invited to partake of its festivities. In those days of party excitement this was considered a wonderful stretch of charity.

“Mr. Miller’s grandfather Phelps was in the practice of preaching at the house of Mr. M.’s father, when he made his occasional visits. There was no church at the time in that section of the town. Through his labors Mr. Miller’s mother was converted; and a little church was there organized, as a branch of the Baptist church in Orwell, Vt.

“In 1812, Elisha Miller, an uncle of the subject of this memoir, was settled over the church in Low Hampton, and a small meeting-house was afterward erected. On Mr. Miller’s removal to Low Hampton, he became a constant attendant, except in the absence of the preacher, at that place of worship, and contributed liberally to its support. His relation to the pastor, and the proximity of his house, caused it to become the head-quarters of the denomination on extra as well as on ordinary occasions. There the preachers from a distance found food and shelter; and, though fond of bantering them on their faith, and making their opinions a subject of mirth with his infidel friends, they always found a home beneath his roof.

“In the absence of the pastor, public worship was conducted by the deacons, who, as a substitute for the sermon, read a printed discourse, usually from ‘Proud-foot’s Practical Sermons.’ Mr. Miller’s mother noticed that, on such occasions, he was not in his seat, and she remonstrated with him. He excused his absence on the ground that he was not edified by the manner in which the deacons read; and intimated that if he could do the reading, he should always be present. This being suggested to those grave officials, they were pleased with the idea; and, after that, they selected the sermon as before, but Mr. Miller did the reading, although still entertaining deistical sentiments.

“The time had now come when God, by his providence and grace, was about to interpose to enlist the patriotic soldier in another kind of warfare; when, to his mind, so fond of those departments of truth which appealed only to reason and sense, was to be opened a more inspiring field; when the persevering and delighted student of history was to see and appreciate the connection between the most stirring scenes and mightiest revolutions in this world’s affairs and God’s great plan of redemption, to which all the events of time are made subordinate.

“Detecting himself in an irreverent use of the name of God, as before related, he was convicted of its sinfulness, and retired to his beautiful grove, and there, in meditation on the works of nature and Providence, he endeavored to penetrate the mystery of the connection between the present and a future state of existence.

“As a farmer, he had had more leisure for reading; and he was at an age when the future of man’s existence will demand a portion of his thoughts. He found that his former views gave him no assurance of happiness beyond the present life. Beyond the grave, all was dark and gloomy. To use his own words: “Annihilation was a cold and chilling thought, and accountability was sure destruction to all. The heavens were as brass over my head, and the earth as iron under my feet. Eternity!—what was it? And death—why was it? The more I reasoned, the further I was from demonstration. The more I thought, the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking, but my thoughts would not be controlled. I was truly wretched, but did not understand the cause. I murmured and complained, but knew not of whom. I knew that there was a wrong, but knew not how or where to find the right. I mourned, but without hope.” He continued in this state of mind for some months, feeling that eternal consequences might hang on the nature and object of his belief.

“The anniversary of the battle of Plattsburg—September 11—was celebrated in all that region, for some years, with much enthusiasm. In 1816, arrangements had been made for its observance, by a ball, at Fairhaven. The stirring scenes of the late campaign being thus recalled, Captain Miller entered into the preparations for the expected festivities with all the ardor of the soldier. In the midst of these, it was announced that Dr. B. would preach on the evening previous to the ball. In the general gathering to that meeting, Captain Miller and his help attended, more from curiosity than from other actuating cause.

“They left Captain Miller’s house in high glee. The discourse was from Zech. 2:4: ‘Run! speak to this young man!’ It was a word in season. On their return, Mrs. M., who had remained at home, observed a wonderful change in their deportment. Their glee was gone, and all were deeply thoughtful, and not disposed to converse in reply to her questions respecting the meeting, the ball, &c. They were entirely incapacitated for any part in the festive arrangements. Other managers of the ball were equally unfitted for it; and the result was that it was indefinitely postponed. The seriousness extended from family to family, and in the several neighborhoods in that vicinity meetings for prayer and praise took the place of mirth and the dance.

“On the Lord’s day following, it devolved on Captain Miller, as usual in the minister’s absence, to read a discourse of the deacons’ selection. They had chosen one on the Importance of Parental Duties. Soon after commencing, he was overpowered by the inward struggle of emotion, with which the entire congregation deeply sympathized, and took his seat. His deistical principles seemed an almost insurmountable difficulty with him. Soon after, ‘suddenly,’ he says, ‘the character of a Saviour was vividly impressed upon my mind. It seemed that there might be a Being so good and compassionate as to himself atone for our transgressions, and thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. I immediately felt how lovely such a Being must be; and imagined that I could cast myself into the arms of, and trust in the mercy of, such an One. But the question arose, How can it be proved that such a Being does exist? Aside from the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of the existence of such a Saviour, or even of a future state. I felt that to believe in such a Saviour without evidence would be visionary in the extreme.

“‘I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Saviour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrained to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God. They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. The Saviour became to me the chiefest among ten thousand; and the Scriptures, which before were dark and contradictory, now became the lamp to my feet and light to my path. My mind became settled and satisfied. I found the Lord God to be a Rock in the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now became my chief study, and I can truly say, I searched it with great delight. I found the half was never told me. I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and marveled that I could have ever rejected it. I found everything revealed that my heart could desire, and a remedy for every disease of the soul. I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my heart to get wisdom from God.’

“Mr. Miller immediately erected the family altar; publicly professed his faith in that religion which had been food for his mirth, by connecting himself with the little church that he had despised; opened his house for meetings of prayer; and become an ornament and pillar in the church, and an aid to both pastor and people. The die was cast, and he had taken his stand for life as a soldier of the cross, as all who knew him felt assured; and henceforth the badge of discipleship, in the church or world, in his family or closet, indicated whose he was and whom he served.

“His pious relations had witnessed with pain his former irreligious opinions; how great were their rejoicings now! The church, favored with his liberality, and edified by his reading, but pained by his attacks on their faith, could now rejoice with the rejoicing. His infidel friends regarded his departure from them as the loss of a standard-bearer. And the new convert felt that henceforth, wherever he was, he must deport himself as a Christian, and perform his whole duty. His subsequent history must show how well this was done.

“To the church, his devotion of himself to his Master’s service was as welcome as his labors were efficient. The opposite party, especially the more gifted of them, regarded him as a powerful, and, therefore, a desirable, antagonist. He knew the strength of both parties. That of the former he had often tested, when, in his attacks, though they might have been silenced, he had felt that he had a bad cause; and the weakness of the latter had been forcibly impressed on him in his fruitless efforts to assure himself that they were right. He knew all their weak points, and where their weapons could be turned against them. They were not disposed to yield the ground without a struggle, and began their attack on him by using the weapons and assailing the points which characterized his own former attacks on Christianity; and to this fact, under God, is probably owing his subsequent worldwide notoriety.

“He had taunted his friends with entertaining ‘a blind faith’ in the Bible, containing, as it did, many things which they confessed their inability to explain. He had enjoyed putting perplexing questions to clergymen and others—triumphing in their unsatisfactory replies. These questions had not been forgotten; and his Christian friends, also, turned his former taunts upon himself.

“Soon after his renunciation of deism, in conversing with a friend respecting the hope of a glorious eternity through the merits and intercessions of Christ, he was asked how he knew there was such a Saviour. He replied, ‘It is revealed in the Bible.’ ‘How do you know the Bible is true?’ was the response, with a reiteration of his former arguments on the contradictions and mysticisms in which he had claimed it was shrouded.

“Mr. Miller felt such taunts in their full force. He was at first perplexed; but, on reflection, he considered that if the Bible is a revelation of God, it must be consistent with itself; all its parts must harmonize, must have been given for man’s instruction, and, consequently, must be adapted to his understanding. He, therefore, said, ‘Give me time, and I will harmonize all these apparent contradictions to my own satisfaction, or I will be a deist still.’

“He then devoted himself to the prayerful reading of the word. He laid aside all commentaries, and used the marginal references and his concordance as his only helps. He saw that he must distinguish between the Bible and all the peculiar and partisan interpretations of it. The Bible was older than them all, must be above them all; and he placed it there. He saw that it must correct all interpretations; and in correcting them, its own pure light would shine without the mists which traditionary belief had involved it in. He resolved to lay aside all preconceived opinions, and to receive, with child-like simplicity, the natural and obvious meaning of Scripture.

“He pursued the study of the Bible with the most intense interest—whole nights, as well as days, being devoted to that object. At times, delighted with truth which shone forth from the sacred volume, making clear to his understanding the great plan of God for the redemption of fallen man; and at times puzzled and almost distracted by seemingly inexplicable or contradictory passages, he persevered, until the application of his great principle of interpretation was triumphant. He became puzzled only to be delighted, and delighted only to persevere the more in penetrating its beauties and mysteries. His manner of studying the Bible is thus described by himself:—

“‘I determined to lay aside all my prepossessions, to thoroughly compare scripture with scripture, and to pursue its study in a regular and methodical manner. I commenced with Genesis, and read verse by verse, proceeding no faster than the meaning of the several passages should be so unfolded as to leave me free from embarrassment respecting any mysticisms or contradictions. Whenever I found anything obscure, my practice was to compare it with all collateral passages; and, by the help of Cruden, I examined all the texts of Scripture in which were found any of the prominent words contained in any obscure portion. Then, by letting every word have its proper bearing on the subject of the text, if my view of it harmonized with every collateral passage in the Bible, it ceased to be a difficulty.

“‘In this way I pursued the study of the Bible, in my first perusal of it, for about two years, and was fully satisfied that it is its own interpreter. I found that, by a comparison of Scripture with history, all the prophecies, as far as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally; that all the various figures, metaphors, parables, similitudes, &c., of the Bible, were either explained in their immediate connection, or the terms in which they were expressed were defined in other portions of the word; and, when thus explained, are to be literally understood in accordance with such explanation. I was thus satisfied that the Bible is a system of revealed truths, so clearly and simply given that the ‘wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.’

“In thus continuing the study, he adopted the following

“RULES OF INTERPRETATION.

“1. Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible. Proof, Matt. 5:18.

“2. All Scripture is necessary, and may be understood by a diligent application and study. Proof, 2 Tim. 3:15-17.

“3. Nothing revealed in Scripture can or will be hid from those who ask in faith, not wavering. Proof, Deut. 29:29; Matt. 10:26, 27; 1 Cor. 2:10; Phil. 3:15; Isa. 45:11; Matt. 21:22; John 14:13, 14; 15:7; James 1:5, 6; 1 John 5:13-15.

“4. To understand doctrine, bring all the Scriptures together on the subject you wish to know; then let every word have its proper influence; and, if you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error. Proof, Isa. 28:7-29; 35:8; Prov. 19:27; Luke 24:27, 44, 45; Rom. 16:26; James 5:19; 2 Pet. 1:19, 20.

“5. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule of itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom, is my rule, and not the Bible. Proof, Ps. 19:7-11; 119:97-105; Matt. 23:8-10; 1 Cor. 2:12-16; Eze. 34:18, 19; Luke 11:52; Matt. 2:7, 8.

“6. God has revealed things to come, by visions, in figures and parables; and in this way the same things are oftentimes revealed again and again, by different visions, or in different figures and parables. If you wish to understand them, you must combine them all in one. Proof, Ps. 89:19; Hos. 12:10; Hab. 2:2; Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 10:6; Heb. 9:9, 24; Ps. 78:2; Matt. 13:13, 34; Gen. 41:1-32; Dan. 2d, 7th & 8th; Acts 10:9-16.

“7. Visions are always mentioned as such. 2 Cor. 12:1.

“8. Figures always have a figurative meaning, and are used much in prophecy to represent future things, times and events—such as mountains, meaning governments; Dan. 2:35, 44; beasts, meaning kingdoms; Dan. 7:8, 17; waters, meaning people; Rev. 17:1, 15; day, meaning year, &c. Eze. 4:6.

“9. Parables are used as comparisons to illustrate subjects, and must be explained in the same way as figures, by the subject and Bible. Mark 4:13.

“10. Figures sometimes have two or more different significations, as day is used in a figurative sense to represent three different periods of time, namely, first, indefinite; Eccl. 7:14; second, definite, a day for a year; Eze. 4:6; and third, a day for a thousand years. 2 Pet. 3:8. The right construction will harmonize with the Bible, and make good sense; other constructions will not.

“11. If a word makes good sense as it stands, and does no violence to the simple laws of nature, it is to be understood literally; if not, figuratively. Rev. 12:1, 2; 17:3-7.

“12. To learn the meaning of a figure, trace the word through your Bible, and when you find it explained, substitute the explanation for the word used; and, if it make good sense, you need not look further; if not, look again.

“13. To know whether we have the true historical event for the fulfillment of a prophecy: If you find every word of the prophecy (after the figures are understood) is literally fulfilled, then you may know that your history is the true event; but if one word lacks a fulfillment, then you must look for another event, or wait its future development; for God takes care that history and prophecy shall agree, so that the true believing children of God may never be ashamed. Ps. 22:5; Isa. 45:17-19; 1 Pet. 2:6; Rev. 17:17; Acts 3:18.

“14. The most important rule of all is, that you must have faith. It must be a faith that requires a sacrifice, and, if tried, would give up the dearest object on earth, the world and all its desires—character, living, occupation, friends, home, comforts and worldly honors. If any of these should hinder our believing any part of God’s word, it would show our faith to be vain. Nor can we ever believe so long as one of these motives lies lurking in our hearts. We must believe that God will never forfeit his word; and we can have confidence that He who takes notice of the sparrow’s fall, and numbers the hairs of our head, will guard the translation of his own word, and throw a barrier around it, and prevent those who sincerely trust in God, and put implicit confidence in his word, from erring far from the truth.

“‘While thus studying the Scriptures,’—continuing the words of his own narrative,—‘I became satisfied, if the prophecies which have been fulfilled in the past are any criterion by which to judge of the manner of the fulfillment of those which are future, that the popular views of the spiritual reign of Christ—a temporal millennium before the end of the world, and the Jews’ return—are not sustained by the word of God; for I found that all the Scriptures on which those favorite theories are based are as clearly expressed as are those that were literally fulfilled at the first advent, or at any other period in the past.

“‘I found it plainly taught in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ will again descend to this earth, coming in the clouds of heaven, in all the glory of his Father:[2] that, at his coming, the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven will be given unto Him and the saints of the Most High, who will possess it forever, even forever and ever:[3] that, as the old world perished by the deluge, so the earth, that now is, is reserved unto fire, to be melted with fervent heat at Christ’s coming; after which, according to the promise, it is to become the new earth, wherein the righteous will forever dwell:[4] that, at his coming, the bodies of all the righteous dead will be raised, and all the righteous living be changed from a corruptible to an incorruptible, from a mortal to an immortal state; that they will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and will reign with him forever in the regenerated earth.[5]

“‘The controversy with Zion will then be finished, her children be delivered from bondage, and from the power of the tempter, and the saints be all presented to God blameless, without spot or wrinkle, in love;[6] that the bodies of the wicked will then be all destroyed, and their spirits be reserved in prison[7] until their resurrection and damnation;[8] and that, when the earth is thus regenerated, and the righteous raised, and the wicked destroyed, the kingdom of God will have come, when his will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven; that the meek will inherit it, and the kingdom become the saint’s.[9]

“‘I found that the only millennium taught in the word of God is the thousand years which are to intervene between the first resurrection and that of the rest of the dead, as inculcated in the twentieth of Revelation; and that it must necessarily follow the personal coming of Christ and the regeneration of the earth,[10] that, till Christ’s coming, and the end of the world, the righteous and wicked are to continue together on the earth, and that the horn of the papacy is to war against the saints until his appearing and kingdom, when it will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming; so that there can be no conversion of the world before the advent;[11] and that as the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, is located by Peter after the conflagration, and is declared by him to be the same for which we look, according to the promise of Isa. 65:17.

“‘This is the same that John saw in vision after the passing away of the former heavens and earth; it must necessarily follow that the various portions of Scripture that refer to the millennial state must have their fulfillment after the resurrection of all the saints that sleep in Jesus.[12] I also found that the promises respecting Israel’s restoration are applied by the apostle to all who are Christ’s—the putting on of Christ constituting them Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.[13].

“‘I was then satisfied, as I saw conclusive evidence to prove the advent personal and pre-millennial, that all the events for which the church look to be fulfilled [in the millennium] before the advent, must be subsequent to it; and that, unless there were other unfulfilled prophecies, the advent of the Lord, instead of being looked for only in the distant future, might be a continually-expected event. In examining the prophecies on that point, I found that only four universal monarchies are anywhere predicted, in the Bible, to precede the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom; that three of those had passed away—Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia—and that the fourth—Rome—had already passed into its last state, the state in which it is to be when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall smite the image on the feet, and break to pieces all the kingdoms of this world.

“‘I was unable to find any prediction of events which presented any clear evidence of their fulfillment before the scenes that usher in the advent. And finding all the signs of the times, and the present condition of the world, to compare harmoniously with the prophetic descriptions of the last days, I was compelled to believe that this world had about reached the limits of the period allotted for its continuance. As I regarded the evidence, I could arrive at no other conclusion.

“‘Another kind of evidence that vitally affected my mind was the chronology of the Scriptures. I found, on pursuing the study of the Bible, various chronological periods extending, according to my understanding of them, to the coming of the Saviour. I found that predicted events, which had been fulfilled in the past, often occurred within a given time. The one hundred and twenty years to the flood; Gen. 6:3; the seven days that were to precede it, with forty days of predicted rain; Gen. 7:4; the four hundred years of sojourn of Abraham’s seed; Gen. 15:13; the three days of the butler’s and baker’s dreams; Gen. 40:12-20; the seven years of Pharaoh’s; Gen. 41:28-54; the forty years in the wilderness; Num. 14:34; the three and a half years of famine: 1 Kings 17:1; the sixty-five years to the breaking of Ephraim; Isa. 7:8; the seventy years’ captivity; Jer. 25:11; Nebuchadnezzar’s seven times; Dan. 4:13-16; and the seven weeks, three-score and two weeks, and the one week, making seventy weeks, determined upon the Jews; Dan. 9:24-27; the events limited by these times were all once only a matter of prophecy, and were fulfilled in accordance with the predictions.

“‘When, therefore, I found the 2300 prophetic days, which were to mark the length of the vision from the Persian to the end of the fourth kingdom, the seven times’ continuance of the dispersion of God’s people, and the 1335 prophetic days to the standing of Daniel in his lot, all evidently extending to the advent,[14] with other prophetical periods, I could but regard them as ‘the times before appointed,’ which God had revealed ‘unto his servants the prophets.’ As I was fully convinced that ‘all Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable,’—that it came not at any time by the will of man, but was written as holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost, and was written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope,—I could but regard the chronological portions of the Bible as being as much a portion of the word of God, and as much entitled to our serious consideration, as any other portion of the Scriptures.

“‘I, therefore, felt that, in endeavoring to comprehend what God had in his mercy seen fit to reveal to us, I had no right to pass over the prophetic periods. I saw that, as the events predicted to be fulfilled in prophetic days had been extended over about as many literal years; as God, in Num. 14:34, and Eze. 4:4-6, had appointed each day for a year; as the seventy weeks to the Messiah were fulfilled in 490 years, and the 1260 prophetic days of the papal supremacy in 1260 years; and as these prophetical days extending to the advent were given in connection with symbolic prophecy, I could only regard the time as symbolical, and as standing each day for a year, in accordance with the opinions of all the standard Protestant commentators. If, then, we could obtain any clue to the time of their commencement, I conceived we should be guided to the probable time of their termination, and, as God would not bestow upon us a useless revelation, I regarded them as conducting us to the time when we might confidently look for the coming of the Chiefest of ten thousand, One altogether lovely.

“‘From a further study of the Scriptures, I concluded that the seven times of Gentile supremacy must commence when the Jews ceased to be an independent nation, at the captivity of Manasseh, which the best chronologers assigned to B. C. 677; that the 2300 days commenced with the seventy weeks, which the best chronologers dated from B. C. 457; and that the 1335 days, commencing with the taking away of the daily, and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolate, Dan. 12:11, were to be dated from the setting up of the papal supremacy, after the taking away of pagan abominations, and which, according to the best historians I could consult, should be dated from about A. D. 508. Reckoning all these prophetic periods from the several dates assigned by the best chronologers for the events from which they should evidently be reckoned, they would all terminate together, about A. D. 1843.

“‘I was thus brought, in 1818, at the close of my two years’ study of the Scriptures, to the solemn conclusion that in about twenty-five years from that time all the affairs of our present state would be wound up; that all its pride and power, pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression, would come to an end; and that, in the place of the kingdoms of this world, the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah would be established under the whole heaven; that, in about twenty-five years, the glory of the Lord would be revealed, and all flesh see it together—the desert bud and blossom as the rose, the fir-tree come up instead of the thorn, and, instead of the briar, the myrtle-tree—the curse be removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be given to the servants of God, the prophets and saints, and them who fear his name, and those be destroyed that destroy the earth.

“‘I need not speak of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in the joys of the redeemed. The Bible was now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason; all that was dark, mystical or obscure, to me, in its teachings, had been dissipated from my mind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacred pages; and oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared!

“‘All the contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the word were gone; and, although there were many portions of which I was not satisfied I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from it to the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight in studying the Scriptures which I had not before supposed could be derived from its teachings. I commenced their study with no expectation of finding the time of the Saviour’s coming, and I could at first hardly believe the result to which I had arrived; but the evidence struck me with such force that I could not resist my convictions. I became nearly settled in my conclusions, and began to wait, and watch, and pray for my Saviour’s coming.

“The above are the conclusions to which he arrived on the general subject of prophecy; but his views on other scriptural topics may not be uninteresting in this connection. His general theological opinions may be inferred from his connecting himself with a Calvinistic Baptist church, as the one most congenial to his faith. But he has left, among his papers, an unfinished compendium of his belief, which bears date, and is appended to the annexed certificate, as follows:—

“‘Low Hampton, Sept. 5, 1822.

“‘I hereby acknowledge that I have long believed it my duty ... to leave, for the inspection of my brethren, friends and children, a brief statement of my faith (and which ought to be my practice); and I pray God to forgive me where I go astray. I made it a subject of prayer and meditation, and, therefore, leave the following as my faith,—reserving the privilege of correction.

“‘(Signed,) Wm. Miller.

“‘Article One.

“‘I believe the Bible is given by God to man, as a rule for our practice, and a guide to our faith—that it is a revelation of God to man.

“‘Article Two.

“‘I believe in one living and true God, and that there are three persons in the Godhead—as there is in man, the body, soul, and spirit. And if any one will tell me how these exist, I will tell him how the three persons of the Triune God are connected.

“‘Article Three.

“‘I believe that God, by his Son, created man in the image of the Triune God, with a body, soul, and spirit; and that he was created a moral agent, capable of living, of obeying, or transgressing the laws of his Maker.

“‘Article Four.

“‘I believe that man, being tempted by the enemy of all good, did transgress, and became polluted; from which act, sin entered into the world, and all mankind became naturally sinners, thrust out from the presence of God, and exposed to his just wrath forever.

“‘Article Five.

“‘I believe that God, knowing from eternity the use that man would make of his [free] agency, did, in his council of eternity, ordain that his Son should die; and that through his death salvation should be given to fallen man, through such means as God should appoint.

“‘Article Six.

“‘I believe that, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, sinners are made the recipients of mercy, in conformity to the divine plan, founded on the wisdom and knowledge of God; the fruits of which are manifested in the recipient by works of repentance and faith; and without which no man, coming to years of discretion, and able to choose between good and evil, can have an interest in the blood and righteousness of Christ.

“‘Article Seven.

“‘I believe that Jesus Christ is an offering of God to sinners for their redemption from sin, and that those who believe in his name may take him by faith, go to God, and find mercy; and that such will in nowise be rejected.

“‘Article Eight.

“‘I believe that Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for sin which justice demanded; and that all those who confess their sins on the head of this victim may expect forgiveness of sin through the blood of the atonement, which is in Jesus Christ, the great High Priest in the holy of holies.

“‘Article Nine.

“‘I believe the atonement to be made by the intercession of Jesus Christ, and the sprinkling of his blood in the holy of holies, and upon the mercy-seat and people; by which means the offended is reconciled to the offender, the offender is brought into subjection to the will of God; and the effect is, forgiveness of sin, union to the divine person, and to the household of faith.

“‘Article Ten.

“‘I believe all those for whom Christ intercedes, who are united to God by a living faith, and have received the forgiveness of sin through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, can never perish; but are kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto salvation.

“‘Article Eleven.

“‘I believe that all the promises of God are and will be accomplished in Christ Jesus; and that none of the human family are or can be entitled to the promises of grace, but those who are born of the Spirit in Christ Jesus, any more than the antediluvians could have been saved from the deluge without entering the ark.

“‘Article Twelve.

“‘I believe that Christ will eventually take away the sin of the world, and cleanse the earth from all pollution, so that this earth will become the abode of the saints forever, by means which he has appointed; all believers being regenerated, sanctified, justified, and glorified.

“‘Article Thirteen.

“‘I believe that all final impenitents will be destroyed from the earth, and sent away into a place prepared for the devil and his angels.

“‘Article Fourteen.

“‘I believe Jesus Christ will come again in his glory and person to our earth, where he will accomplish his divine purposes in the saving of his people, destroying the wicked from the earth, and taking away the sin of the world.

“‘Article Fifteen.

“‘I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near, even at the door, even within twenty-one years,—on or before 1843.

“‘Article Sixteen.

“‘I believe that before Christ comes in his glory, all sectarian principles will be shaken, and the votaries of the several sects scattered to the four winds; and that none will be able to stand but those who are built on the word of God.

“‘Article Seventeen.

“‘I believe in the resurrection, both of the just and of the unjust—the just, or believers, at Christ’s second coming, and the unjust one thousand years afterwards—when the judgment of each will take place in their order, at their several resurrections; when the just will receive everlasting life, and the unjust eternal condemnation.

“‘Article Eighteen.

“‘I believe in the doctrine of election, founded on the will, purpose, and fore-knowledge of God; and that all the elect will be saved in the kingdom of God, through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth.

“‘Article Nineteen.

“‘I believe in the ordinance of baptism by immersion, as a representation of Christ’s burial and resurrection—also of our death to sin and life to holiness.

“‘Article Twenty.

“‘I believe in the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, to be’⸺

“The last article was left thus incomplete, and the series of articles was not extended, as it was evidently designed to have been, so as to give an expression of his faith on subjects not included in the foregoing. It is not known that his views, as above expressed, ever underwent any change—excepting as his belief in the date of the second advent was afterwards shown, by the passing of time, to be incorrect.”

CHAPTER III.

INTERVAL BETWEEN HIS CONVERSION AND HIS PUBLIC LABORS—CORRESPONDENCE—DIALOGUE WITH A PHYSICIAN.

All truly great and good men who have been the honored instruments in the hands of God of accomplishing good, and of leading his people in the way of truth, have had wrought in them a deep experience in the things of the Spirit of God. This being the case with William Miller, we are happy to give in this chapter some of the important facts in his experience. His biographer says:—

“From the time that Mr. Miller became established in his religious faith, till he commenced his public labors—a period of twelve or fourteen years—there were few prominent incidents in his life to distinguish him from other men. He was a good citizen, a kind neighbor, an affectionate husband and parent, and a devoted Christian; good to the poor, and benevolent, as objects of charity were presented; in the Sunday-school, was teacher and superintendent; in the church he performed important service as a reader and exhorter, and, in the support of religious worship, no other member, perhaps, did as much as he.

“He was very exemplary in his life and conversation, endeavored at all times to perform the duties, whether public or private, which devolved on him, and whatever he did was done cheerfully, as for the glory of God. His leisure hours were devoted to reading and meditation; he kept himself well informed respecting the current events of the time; occasionally communicated his thoughts through the press, and often, for his own private amusement, or for the entertainment of friends, indulged in various poetical effusions, which, for unstudied productions, are possessed of some merit; but his principal enjoyment was derived from the study of the Bible. His state of mind at this time can be better given in his own language.

“‘With the solemn conviction,’ writes Mr. Miller, ‘that such momentous events were predicted in the Scriptures, to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, the question came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world, in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind. If the end was so near, it was important that the world should know it. I supposed that it would call forth the opposition of the ungodly; but it never came into my mind that any Christian would oppose it. I supposed that all such would be so rejoiced, in view of the glorious prospect, that it would only be necessary to present it, for them to receive it. My great fear was that in their joy at the hope of a glorious inheritance so soon to be revealed, they would receive the doctrine without sufficiently examining the Scriptures in demonstration of its truth. I therefore feared to present it, lest, by some possibility, I should be in error, and be the means of misleading any.

“‘Various difficulties and objections would arise in my mind from time to time; certain texts would occur to me which seemed to weigh against my conclusions; and I would not present a view to others, while any difficulty appeared to militate against it. I therefore continued the study of the Bible, to see if I could sustain any of these objections. My object was not merely to remove them, but I wished to see if they were valid.

“‘Sometimes, when at work, a text would arise like this: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” &c.; and how, then, could the Bible reveal the time of the advent? I would then immediately examine the context in which it was found, and I saw at once that, in the same connection, we are informed how we may know when it is nigh, even at the doors; consequently, that text could not teach that we could know nothing of the time of that event. Other texts, which are advanced in support of the doctrine of a temporal millennium, would arise; but on examining their context, I invariably found that they were applicable only to the eternal state, or were so illustrative of the spread of the gospel here as to be entirely irrelevant to the position they were adduced to support.

“‘Thus all those passages that speak of the will of God being done on earth as in Heaven, of the earth being full of the knowledge of the glory of God, &c., could not be applicable to a time when the man of sin was prevailing against the saints, or when the righteous and wicked were dwelling together, which is to be the case until the end of the world. Those who speak of the gospel being preached in all the world, teach that, as soon as it should be thus preached, the end was to come; so that it could not be delayed a thousand years from that time, nor long enough for the world’s conversion after the preaching of the gospel as a witness.

“‘The question of the resurrection and judgment was, for a time, an obstacle in the way. Being instructed that all the dead would be raised at the same time, I supposed it must be so taught in the Bible; but I soon saw it was one of the traditions of the elders.

“‘So, also, with the return of the Jews. That question I saw could only be sustained by denying the positive declarations of the New Testament, which assert: “There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;” that the promise that he shall be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith; that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female;” but that “if ye are Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” I was, therefore, obliged to discard an objection which asserts there is a difference between the Jew and Greek; that the children of the flesh are accounted for the seed, &c.

“‘In this way I was occupied for five years—from 1818 to 1823—in weighing the various objections which were being presented to my mind. During that time, more objections arose in my mind than have been advanced by my opponents since; and I know of no objection that has been since advanced which did not then occur to me. But, however strong they at first appeared, after examining them in the light of the divine word, I could only compare them to straws, laid down singly as obstacles on a well-beaten road; the car of truth rolled over them, unimpeded in its progress.

“‘I was then fully settled in the conclusions which seven years previously had begun to bear with such impressive force upon my mind; and the duty of presenting the evidence of the nearness of the advent to others—which I had managed to evade while I could find the shadow of an objection remaining against its truth—again came home to me with great force. I had, previously, only thrown out occasional hints of my views. I then began to speak more clearly my opinions to my neighbors, to ministers, and others. To my astonishment, I found very few who listened with any interest. Occasionally, one would see the force of the evidence; but the great majority passed it by as an idle tale. I was, therefore, disappointed in finding any who would declare this doctrine, as I felt it should be, for the comfort of saints, and as a warning to sinners.’

“His correspondence during this period shows ardent longings for the salvation of his relatives and friends. In a letter to a sister, dated June 25, 1825, after writing on various subjects of family interest, he says:—

“‘Dear Brother and Sister:—All the news that we had to tell having been told above, I will now add a few lines; and oh! may they be directed by Infinite Wisdom? What are your prospects for eternity? Is there a land of eternal rest, beyond the confines of this world, in prospect? Do you believe that the blood of the everlasting covenant can and will cleanse you from all sin? Are you satisfied with your present evidence of an interest in that blood? That we shall die, is certain; and due preparation for a better world is wisdom; and we ought as rational beings to make ourselves familiar with the road and acquainted with the inhabitants of said country. O my soul! go thou to the mansions of the dead, and learn there the end of all living.

“‘That we ought to be cleansed from all sin, in order to be happy, is certain; for sin constitutes all misery; and a person living in the enjoyment (falsely so called) of sin cannot enter into rest. How necessary, then, is the work of regeneration and sanctification! And may we obtain that evidence which will enable us, with Thomas, to say, “My Lord and my God!” Redemption is the work of God. How proper, then, that Jesus should be called the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel! Redemption is from sin. How improper, then, that we should live any longer therein! We ought as much to strive to attain to perfection as if it was attainable here below.

“Lord, I believe thy heavenly word;

Fain would I have my soul renewed.

I mourn for sin, and trust the Lord

To have it pardoned and subdued.

“My King, my Saviour, and my God,

Let grace my sinful soul renew;

Wash my offenses with thy blood,

And make my heart sincere and true.

“Oh! may thy grace its power display!

Let guilt and death no longer reign;

Save me in thine appointed way,

Nor let my humble faith be vain.

“Ye favored lands, who have his word,

Ye saints, who feel its saving power,

Unite your tongues to praise the Lord,

And his distinguished grace adore.”

“‘P. S. June 30.—I have this day been to Whitehall, to see the celebrated Marquis de Lafayette, that made such a conspicuous figure, half a century ago, in our Revolution. He is a pleasant-looking old man, a friend to freemen, a terror to tyrants, and one that has spent his treasures, his blood, and the best part of his life, in the cause of freedom and the rights of man. He has suffered much; yet he retains a good constitution. He goes a little lame, occasioned by wounds he received in the Revolution. He deserves the thanks of Americans, and he has received a general burst of gratitude from Maine to the Mississippi. He has visited every State in the Union and almost every important town. I had the pleasure of dining with him; and after dinner he took a passage for New York.

“‘Yours, &c.,

Wm. Miller.’

“That Mr. M. was one of the men prominent in his section of the country, is shown by his mingling with them, as above, on the various public occasions.

“He derived such pleasure from the study of the Bible that it was almost his constant companion; and a portion of each day was devoted to its private perusal. He loved to meditate on its teachings and to talk about its promises.

“In the winter of 1828, the church in Low Hampton, of which Mr. Miller was a member, was refreshed by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In a letter, dated March 12, written to Elder Hendryx, to whom reference has before been made, Mr. Miller says: ‘One young man came to my house last night after nine o’clock, to request prayers. He said he had been eight years under conviction, and appeared to be almost in despair. I thought I could say to him, as did John the Baptist to his disciples: “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” Twelve or fourteen requested prayers last Sunday evening. It is really the work of the Lord. I never lived in a reformation so general, so solemn, and with so little noise. Surely, we have reason to rejoice and be glad. The Lord has remembered the low state of his people, and hath come down to deliver. Two of my children, William and Bellona, as I have a good degree of hope, are subjects of grace. Pray for us.’

“In the same letter he makes mention of trials, as well as blessings. He says: ‘On Saturday, the first day of March, our meeting-house was consumed by fire. We should have almost despaired of ever building again, had not the Lord visited us by his grace, and likewise opened the hearts of our Christian friends from abroad. $400 have been subscribed from the adjoining towns. There is now some prospect that we shall build. You know we are weak in numbers. We are really so in resources. I must bend my whole force to gain the above-mentioned object.’

“Mr. Miller succeeded in the accomplishment of his wishes, according to his ability and known liberality.

“He continued to make the Bible his daily study, and became more and more convinced that he had a personal duty to perform respecting what he conceived the Bible to teach of the nearness of the advent. These impressions he thus describes:—

“‘When I was about my business, it was continually ringing in my ears, Go and tell the world of their danger. This text was constantly occurring to me: “When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Eze. 33:8, 9. I felt that, if the wicked could be effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that, if they were not warned, their blood might be required at my hand.

“‘I did all I could to avoid the conviction that anything was required of me; and I thought that by freely speaking of it to all, I should perform my duty, and that God would raise up the necessary instrumentality for the accomplishment of the work. I prayed that some minister might see the truth, and devote himself to its promulgation; but still it was impressed upon me, Go and tell it to the world; their blood will I require at thy hand. The more I presented it in conversation, the more dissatisfied I felt with myself for withholding it from the public. I tried to excuse myself to the Lord for not going out and proclaiming it to the world. I told the Lord that I was not used to public speaking; that I had not the necessary qualifications to gain the attention of an audience; that I was very diffident, and feared to go before the world; that they would “not believe me nor hearken to my voice;” that I was “slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” But I could get no relief.’

“In this way he struggled on for nine years longer, pursuing the study of the Bible, doing all he could to present the nearness of Christ’s coming to those whom circumstances threw in his way; but resisting his impressions of duty to go out as a public teacher. He was then fifty years old, and it seemed impossible for him to surmount the obstacles which lay in his path, to successfully present it in a public manner.

“His freedom to converse on the subject, and the ability with which he was able to defend his own views, and oppose those differing from him, had given him no little celebrity in his denomination in all that region; and some were rather shy in approaching him. Elder T. Hendryx, a Baptist clergyman, now in the State of Pennsylvania, who has kindly furnished the biographer with many original letters from Mr. Miller, thus speaks of his first acquaintance with him:—

“‘My first acquaintance with Bro. Miller was in the summer of 1831. I had been requested to visit the Baptist church in Hampton, and concluded to go. When about to start, I was informed by a brother in the church of which I was a member, in Salem, N. Y., that there was a brother in the Hampton church, possessing considerable influence, who had many curious notions on doctrinal points, and on the prophecies—particularly on the latter; and also (to use the brother’s language) that he was “hard on ministers who differed with him.” Having recently commenced preaching, without much confidence in my own ability, and not having made any engagement to the church, I at first almost concluded not to go. On further reflection, I decided to go, and put my trust in Him who had said, “Lo, I am with you alway.” On my way I endeavored, by prayer and meditation, to divest myself of all prejudice against his peculiar notions, whatever they might be (for as yet I was ignorant of them), and at the same time to fortify myself against being led into error by him.

“‘I arrived at Bro. Miller’s on the 6th of July, 1831. You may well suppose that my situation was not very enviable. I moved tremblingly and with the utmost caution. In spite of me, I could not act like myself; and it was not till I had been there nearly a week, and preached several discourses, that I could feel at home, or enjoy my wonted freedom in preaching the word. Several other ministering brethren visited at Bro. M.’s during my stay there, and I found that I was not altogether alone in those feelings. But how perfectly groundless those fears! Instead of pouncing upon my errors like the tiger, no brother ever dealt with me more tenderly, or exhibited a better spirit in presenting his views.

“‘After being with Bro. M. some time, he asked me my views on the millennium. Having thrown off all reserve, I readily gave them. I had embraced the old view—the world’s conversion a thousand years before the advent; and answered him accordingly. His reply was: “Well, Bro. H., prove it! You know I want the Bible for all that I receive.” “Well,” said I; and, taking my Bible, I turned to the 20th of Revelation, and was about to read, when I thought I would examine it again, and with very close attention. I was in a deep study. Bro. M. was waiting, and watching me closely. He began to smile. “Why don’t you read, Bro. H.?” said he. I was astonished; for I could not make it out. At last I said: “I go home next Monday. I will draw the passages off, and hand them to you when I return.” I took some four days for it, and gave him a long list of passages. He read them, and said: “Bro. H., what has become of your old theory? This is mine.” “Well,” said I, “it is mine, too.” In my examination, my theory had been overturned, and I came out where I now stand.

“‘One thing I observed in Bro. M.’s character; If he ever dealt harshly with a brother for holding an error, it was because he saw, or thought he saw, a spirit of self-importance in him.’

“The labors of Elder Hendryx were attended with a blessing, as appears from a letter of Mr. Miller’s to him, dated August 9, 1831. In it he says:—

“‘The Lord is pouring out his Spirit among us, but not in so powerful a manner as I could wish. Baptism has been administered every Sabbath but one since you were here. Two or three have obtained hope every week.’

“As Mr. Miller’s opinions respecting the nearness and nature of the millennium became known, they naturally elicited a good deal of comment among his friends and neighbors, and also among those at a distance. Some of their remarks, not the most complimentary to his sanity, would occasionally be repeated to him.